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Stop Looking for the Antichrist
He has already come — and gone.
When I was about fourteen, a movie came out called The Late Great Planet Earth. It was based on a bestselling book of the same name by Hal Lindsey. He went through a series of Bible prophecies about “the end times” and tried to convince people the end of this world would happen soon. A central figure in end-times theology is “the Antichrist,” a man who will rise to world power on a wave of populism, who will bring peace and prosperity at first, but then will persecute anyone who worships Jesus Christ. That is, those who were not raptured to heaven before this tribulation. It gave me nightmares. Rapture anxiety is a real thing.
Over the years, people have tried to identify who the Antichrist is. Is he here now among us? I have heard people identify him as the Pope, Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama, or Donald Trump. I’m here to tell you it’s none of them. In fact, I will go so far as to say any attempt to identify the Antichrist with a contemporary figure is a waste of time. Why? Because according to the Bible, he has already come and gone.
